•Name: He Xiaoming
•Gender: male
•Occupation: employee of a state-owned company
•Hometown: Quanyang, Shanxi province
•Departure Date: Jan 30, 2014
•Distance from Home: 400 kilometers
•Route of Travel: Free bus from company to Beijing West Railway Station; Train from Beijing west to Quanyang, Shanxi province
•Time Cost of Travel: 3 hours + 2.5 hours
•Total cost of Travel: 160 yuan, or 5 percent of monthly income.

•Background: He Xiaoming has worked for more than two years. In his memory, last year buying tickets was easier than this year. When he was a student of a college in Beijing, he went back home several times a year. But now he has to wait for holidays. He said he could buy cheaper tickets when he was a student but now there is no discount any more.